Lyle Saxon, renowned author and collector of Louisiana folklore, included a very short piece about Hans Muller in Gumbo YaYa, telling of how he and his (unnamed) wife ran a successful sausage business. The victims, both in their mid-20s and both originally from New Iberia, were Theresa and Leonide Moity and were married to the brothers Henry and Joseph Moity. He also blamed his sister-in-law for being a bad influence on his wife. On the afternoon of Thursday, October 27, 1927, Nettie Compass entered the second-floor apartment at 715 Ursulines Street to do some cleaning. around his boiler vat. Leonide is believed to have written the story before moving from New Iberia. She called out for help until two men nearby noticed and alerted the police. From there he caught the Illinois Central Panama Limited en route to Chicago. <p>There was no place like New Orleans in the Roaring 20s. The Trunk Murders and 'Sausage Ghost' of 1920s New Orleans. But all was not well in an apartment near the French Quarter. Memory of his crime survives in part due to the themes this true story shares with a popular French Quarter ghost story. Police were on the look for Henry and found that he had taken the children to a family members house and had gone to a boarding house. The money, the booze, and the passions flowed freely. He explained that he had come home a few weeks before to find his wife with another man in the apartment. The November 2, 1927 Times-Picayune repeated portions of this confession, in which Henry alleges that Theresa and Caruso took friendly excursions on streetcars, and carried out a brazen flirtation under his nose, stealing hugs and passing notes in the darker corners of 715 Ursulines. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Mueller used the tools that were available to him at the time.his sausage grinder. At the start of 2023, New Orleans was considered to have the highest murder rate of any large city in the country. Why is Everyone Fighting Over the Skull of 'Brigand Villella'? Superintendent Healy radioed the seven vessels sailing out of New Orleans that day, asking sailors to look for a dark bushy-haired man with very dark brown eyes and a tattoo on one arm featuring a nude woman with a flower in her hair. The parole board insisted, saying they should never have convicted him by reason of insanity.. CDP July 5, 2021 No Comments. Hailing from New Iberia, Louisiana (pop 6,278), they'd hoped to find more opportunity in the city, but the brothers did mostly odd-jobs, doing their best to provide. The message, over and over, was that this was the fault of a bad woman. My tour guide was very personable, and I really enjoyed listening to the true crime stories that happened here. She saw blood right away and her screams attracted authorities. Listen to the story of The New Orleans Murder Block. (By Daniel S. Leyer; courtesy of the Vieux Carr Survey). The all-male jury couldn't decide if that was a valid defense or not, and compromised on a verdict of "guilty without capital punishment," rejecting the prosecution's death penalty recommendation. The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network. Henry also admitted to the murders being premeditated. A circa 1925 image shows the criminal court building at Tulane Avenue and Elk Place. . The victims of the Trunk Murders were discovered October 27, 1927, at 715 Ursulines Street. A photograph shows Governor Nichols and Royal Streets in 1928. Before the womens dispatch and disassembly, there were whispers of their familiarity with men other than their husbands. The couple came with next to nothing and had created a successful business. In March 1928, Henry was convicted of Theresas murder and sentenced to life in prison. Average 4.83 out of 5 stars based on 177 verified reviews from Cool New Orleans and TripAdvisor, Were here to help. Two couples had serious marital problems, and a few days before Halloween in 1927, the home became the site of an infamous crime (, Henry Moity was found guilty and sentenced to concurrent two life terms in prison for the Trunk Murders, but he was given considerable leniency and was able to escape. HubPages is a registered trademark of The Arena Platform, Inc. Other product and company names shown may be trademarks of their respective owners. In 1956, he shot his long-time lover twice in the chest after a fight over money. It was the fall of 1927 when housekeeper Nettie Compass entered the apartment on 715 Ursulines Street near downtown New Orleans. Henry stayed up, stewing about his wifes infidelity until his mind boiled over into rage. The story goes that Hans Muller killed his wife, and, to hide his crime, made sausages out of her body and served them out of his butcher shop for weeksonly to be found out after a customer bit into a piece of Mrs. Mullers wedding ring. We just did the ghost tour with Jonathan, and he was wonderful! New Orleans' most infamous serial killer was never caught. The rent was always late, there wasn't enough food, and things were getting dire. For their part, Henry and Joseph were odd-jobs men, described by sources as shiftless and perpetually short on the funds needed to support their families. A great experience and tour all around! Henry Moity was found guilty and sentenced to concurrent two life terms in prison for the Trunk Murders, but he was given considerable leniency and was able to escape. They'd greet everyone with a smile, and happily called out their regular customers' names as they walked through the door. After discovering a pool of blood at her feet, she ran from the apartment screaming and caught the attention of a few neighbors and the police. Despite their poverty, the author writes of living happily with her husband and their young children in her small hometown. Joseph told police he had recently moved in with his sister after catching Leonide with another man. (THNOC, gift of Waldemar S. Nelson, 2003.0182.523). Before New Orleans Superintendent of Police Thomas Healey could find either man, Joseph turned himself in, telling investigators his brother killed both women. Spend 2 hours listening about gruesome murders of the French Quarter. When he returned home and found the women already asleep, trunks packed for the next day, he knew they truly meant to leave. thump!" These murders were not the first nor the last to occur on this particular block. Not so fast! In speaking with the police he also said If I ever get my hands on that Joe Caruso, Ill chop him up into little pieces, not big pieces like my wife, but little pieces, he told police. He was sentenced to five years at Folsom Prison for attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon. This mode configures the website to be compatible with screen-readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. Not only did he confess, but he also provided gruesome details. Henry said his wife, Theresa, threatened to leave him, invoking his vengeance over her infidelities and neglect of the children. Resting on the torso was a bloodied cane knife, of the type used on sugar plantations. Ill make him look like something thats been run through a sausage mill. Seemingly inspired by some details of this case, particularly Henrys background as a butcher, the story goes that a German immigrant opened a sausage factory on Ursulines Street. The frantic cleaning lady was soon joined by two insurance men who were conveniently nearby and who, in turn, tipped off local reporter, George William Healy. Their Trunk Murders, a forgotten chapter of the citys lively history, involved clandestine streetcar flirtations, severed fingers, and the possible emergence of a sausage ghost.. The Gruesome Case of the 1927 New Orleans Trunk Murders | by The True Historian | Lessons from History | Medium 500 Apologies, but something went wrong on our end. She was supposed to be cleaning the home of the two Moity women and their husbands, Henry and Joseph Moity, but instead she stumbled into a horrible crime scene. In the summer of 1944, Louisiana State Penitentiary inmate number 18038, a trustee on a routine run to the Angola post office, flagged down a taxicab. But all was not well in an apartment near the French Quarter. Though the legacy of Henrys crime may persist in another local legend: the Sausage Ghost. Recounted in the 1945 Louisiana folklore collection, Gumbo Ya-Ya, the tale tells of a woman murdered by her butcher husband and turned intoyou guessed itsausages, to be sold to unsuspecting customers on Ursulines Avenue. Afterward came the grim work of cutting up the bodies, as Henry stuffed the women into the trunks they had packed hours earlier. Monique was entertaining and hilarious. The kindest thing that was said of her was that this "'Slip of Girl' does not seem strong enough to fell six-foot mate." The women's entire value was what they could do for the men. His 1941 appeal for a pardon was rejected by the governor and in 1944, he briefly escaped from the Louisiana State Penitentiary. No purchase necessary. Allows using the site with your screen-reader. (Photo: A newspaper report of the crime at 715UrsulinesAvenue. (Photo: Lauren George), On Wednesday October 26, things had come to a head in the Moity household when Theresa and Leonide revealed their plans to move out. But Wirepoints, a non-profit research service, evaluated homicide statistics from America's 75 largest states and confirmed that in sheer numbers, Chicago easily earns the top spot. by Jackson Square Cat August 28, 2016 New Orleans' French Quarter, at the. Henry had begged his way onto the ship using a false name, but the crew recognized his tattoo from the newspaper stories about the crimes. Upon. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features Press Copyright Contact us Creators . Wood | Copyright 2019 All Rights Reserved. Seller of Travel Ref. The property is shown in this 1960s photograph. It was a smaller group than other tours we saw and very entertaining! Authorities recovered a gold wedding band buried in a deep gash in Theresas back. In new orleans, a young mother is found shot and burned in the trunk of her car. In 1959, as Jimmie Davis campaigned to regain the governors seat, a reporter asked him why he paroled the man responsible for two horrendous homicides. He'd been walking the streets all day, trying to drum up business for a sign painting business he wanted to start, when he returned to find the women packing to leave. By the 1920s the neighborhood, especially in the areas closer to Esplanade Avenue, was heavily populated by first- and second-generation Sicilians, who joined the racially and ethnically diversecommunity. Required fields are marked *. Refresh the page, check Medium. From a New Orleans prison cell, Henry smoked, attempted to paint, and received curious visitors. On 715 Ursulines Street cell, Henry smoked, attempted to paint, and received curious visitors story of Trunk! Reviews from Cool New Orleans, a young mother is found shot and burned in the country to... 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